In the production of plastic packages including closures and hollow plastic containers, it is common to injection mold or to extrude a preform, and then to blow mold the preform to achieve the final shape of a container. With some containers, at least a body portion of the container is of multilayer construction in which one or more intermediate layers form a barrier against gas transmission through the container. Whether of monolayer or multilayer construction, blow molded containers, and closures therefor, are often used for packaging personal care products and medical-type products, such as pharmaceuticals. Unfortunately, however, pharmaceuticals are sometimes counterfeited and packaged in counterfeit packages that look identical to genuine packages used to market genuine pharmaceuticals. Accordingly, such counterfeit packages are used to deceive pharmacists and consumers into buying counterfeit pharmaceuticals.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, an improvement to a package is provided that includes a container having a label adhered thereto and a closure secured to the container. The improvement is for identifying the package, and includes at least one of the container and the closure having a plurality of micro-particle taggants with multiple colored layers to provide a code for identifying the package. In the preferred embodiments of the invention, intermediate layer(s) of the container are of barrier resin polymer to retard migration of gases, water vapor and/or flavorants through the container sidewall. However, as will be described, the intermediate layer resin can be of any suitable type, including post consumer resin or the same resin as the matrix resin layer(s). In accordance with this preferred first aspect of the invention, a taggant is placed in the intermediate resin layer(s) to identify the package. This preferably is accomplished by blending the taggant in the resin prior to or during injection molding or extruding the preform. In the preferred embodiments of the invention, the taggant is a plurality of micro-particle taggants with multiple layers and having one or both of a fluorescing agent and a magnetic charge for initial detection of the presence of the taggant.
In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, a packaging component (e.g., a closure or a container) is provided that includes at least one layer of material blended with micro-particle taggants so as to render the packaging component identifiable and traceable back to a source.
In accordance with a third aspect of the invention, a method of making a plastic packaging component includes providing the component with micro-particle taggants having multiple color layers. The method also includes at least one of blending the micro-particle taggants in at least one resin used to mold the plastic packaging component, and blending the micro-particle taggants in an adhesive used to attach a label to the plastic packaging component.